charley04

i have a silverado 1500, 2009, i looking to buy performance headers and exhaust. Any suggestions on which brand to buy? I'm currently looking at banks system. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Mille Racer 69

Well really the only things that should matter with headers is
Do you want long tube or short tube?
A header is a header.

Your state will matter cuz I think here in CA you'll get
A red flag when it comes time to smog if you have long tubes.

For an exhaust system, look at the top if the page in that bold blue bar
And you will see "search"
Click on that and and search exhaust and you'll find probably half of
All threads made on this forum are about exhausts and you can breeze through them
As a fast way to find the information you're looking for.

country_09

Now a days a header is not a header...short length headers are the same as the stock manifolds. If you want any dyno proven power gains on trucks from 99-now a Longtube header is the only way to go. For a 09, I'd look at the LPP headers with ORY for 500. Then pick any muffler you want and have put it in and be done..best gains right there. Will need a tune when done to turn the back o2 sensors off and get the air/fuel mix right

Mille Racer 69

When I said "a header is a header" I was referring to different brands.
An edelbrock, jba or Gibson is no better than a cheapy flow tech or other offbrand.

The insides of stock manifolds are really rough and can obstruct exhaust flow.
Aftermarket "headers" are just smooth tubes.

The difference you will wanna look into as I said is long vs short.
Based on your decision from that, personally I'd go with the cheapest I could find
After a brief Google user review to make sure there are no catastrophic issues with them.
Maybe a little air leak or something on the collector plate which a quick spot weld will fix.

country_09

On a 99-up silvy, the manifolds aren't rough on the inside. They actually flow really well, just as a shorty flows. So they don't offer gains. Now on a older truck, pre 98, shorties were awesome since the headers were really restrictive. Which made shorties a great and cheap substitute on obs trucks. Do a few quick searches on performancetrucks.net, gmfullsize.com, and even fullsizechevy.com askin bout shorty headers on a 99 and up truck. Plenty of threads on it

MorrisGray

I just got some Pacesetter long tubes in ceramic coated. They look very nice. I am unsure of what I want to do once I install them. My current thought is get someone to build custom pipes from the headers to x-pipe to two mufflers like Cherry Bomb Extreme or 10 series somebody or glasspacks, don't know for sure. OR should I run only a one muffler setup? And if so how? I would like to install header, put on mufflers to try out and then run pipes but I don't think there will be room for a muffler directly connected to the headers unless I get those little Schoenfeld race mufflers that are only six or eight inches long. I am taking cats off and not going to have any at all.

Does anybody know if you need a y-pipe and an x-pipe? Will x-pipe be fine and better without a y-pipe? Will y-pipe alone do as well as x-pipe alone? Or do you need both?

country_09

A y-pipe is if you want to run a single muffler, a x-pipe is for duals. You could run either setup but dyno number shows that a single 3" is better for more torque and HP over duals

MorrisGray

So headers into y-pipe into 3" intermediate pipe into single 3" inlet muffler ... (so far like oem setup)

from here does it matter if it is dual (2.5" or 3") outlet tailpipes or should it remain one single exit tailpipe of 3"?

country_09

Yup basically like the oem setup...the only restriction on the stock exhaust is the big tin can for a muffler they use. Everything else flows more than enough for the motor itself. If you want 2 pipes exiting the rear of the truck, put a y-pipe on the end of the muffler and that will allow you to have the 2 pipe exit you want

Mille Racer 69

My vote is for true duals with the x pipe.
It will give you more mid range power and sound better